Hanwha Ocean bags $1.8 billion contract for 8 LNG carriers

A liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier constructed by Hanwha Ocean [HANWHA OCEAN]

Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean bagged a 2.4 trillion won ($1.8 billion) contract to build eight liquefied natural gas (LNG) ships for an Oceanian shipper, according to its regulatory filing Monday.

The contract is equivalent to 33 percent of Hanwha Ocean's revenue last year, marking the company’s largest single contract.

The firm will build eight LNG carriers at its shipyard in Geoje, South Gyeongsang, for delivery by January 2028, the company said.

While the company only revealed that the client is an Oceanian shipper through a regulatory filing, local media reports and industry sources point to Qatar's state-owned integrated oil and gas company, QatarEnergy, as the unnamed client considering the size of the contract.

The Qatari government announced plans to expand its annual LNG production capacity from 77 million tons to 126 million tons by 2027 and commenced the North Field expansion project. QatarEnergy signed slot contracts with Korea's three major shipbuilding companies — HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, Samsung Heavy Industries, and Hanwha Ocean — for over 100 LNG carriers in 2020 and have been proceeding with actual orders since late 2022.

Hanwha Ocean has secured $2.35 billion-worth of ship orders so far this year. It achieved orders valued at $4.1 billion for the whole of 2023.

BY SEO JI-EUN, YONHAP [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]